Transitions to higher education: the case of students with vocational background

Katartzi, Eugenia; Hayward, Geoff

Abstract

The paper examines the ways transitions to Higher Education are experienced and narrated by students with Vocational qualifications. Drawing upon the mixed-method project that documented transitions to HE, we utilise interview data to illustrate the centrality of the epistemic and pedagogical struggles that students with vocational background experience. More specifically, a process of differential epistemic positioning is evident in the participants’ narratives. This manifests itself through a misrecognition of their worth in the field of HE. Further, pedagogical struggles were also narrated by the participants in relation to the teaching, learning and assessment regimes prevailing in HEIs. The paper concludes by arguing for the need to revisit the narrow and static policy framing that emphasises barriers to access. This requires addressing questions pertaining to pedagogy and knowledge, students’ completion and retention rates and their ongoing engagement with the epistemic and pedagogical processes once they are within HE.

Citation

Katartzi, E., & Hayward, G. (2020). Transitions to higher education: the case of students with vocational background. Studies in Higher Education, 45(12), 2371-2381. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1610866

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 13, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 27, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 30, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 4, 2020
• Journal: Studies in Higher Education
• Print ISSN: 0307-5079
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-174X
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 12
• Pages: 2371-2381
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1610866
• Keywords: Transitions to higher education, VET, Knowledge, Pedagogy, Capitals
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5007625
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2019.1610866
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Studies in Higher Education on 27/04/2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1610866